Bill Maher's attempt to oust a Republican member of Congress is nearing its final stage, with the liberal comedian announcing July 25 on his HBO show that Renee Ellmers of North Carolina has made it to the final four of his viewer-driven "Flip a District" contest.

Ellmers joins John Kline of Minnesota and Blake Farenthold of Texas. Maher will announce the last of the quartet on Friday night, his final show before "Real Time" takes a summer break. The aim appears to be the selection of one Republican in the final stretch of the midterm cycle and then support for that lawmaker's Democratic challenger with both money and attention. The Flip a District "loserest loser of all," as Maher dubs it, will be announced when his show films from Washington, D.C., on Sept. 12.

"Men do tend to talk about things at a much higher level," Ellmers said. "We need our male colleagues to understand that if you can bring it down to a woman's level and what everything that she is balancing in her life, that's the way to go."

The other options for the final slot are Dan Benishek of Michigan, Kerry Bentivolio of Michigan, Mike Coffman of Colorado, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Michael G. Grimm of New York, Steve King of Iowa, Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, Steve Southerland II of Florida, Tim Walberg of Michigan, Jackie Walorski of Indiana and Ted Yoho of Florida.

Correction 4:07 p.m. An earlier version of this post misspelled Todd Akin's name.